Life at the Limits

Episode 1

Wet and Dry

50 mins

In the Amazon forest, the largest rainforest on Earth, animals must deal with high rainfall and periodic flooding. They have to find clever ways to survive. When ponds in Sri Lanka dry out at the height of summer they expose the last remaining fish to hungry crocodiles and storks. But when the banquet is over, predators must find food elsewhere ¬. In the desert of Namibia, rivers are mostly desiccated beds of sand. But sand grouse, Oryx and giraffes find the last remaining pools of water. Drought can also be live-giving: along the sand banks of the fast evaporating Amur River, terns build their nests. Here, their offspring are safe from predators such as foxes or boars; but ironically, not from their own kind.